The present invention relates generally to scrubbers, and more particularly to scrubbers for household use.
Household scrubber are often used with a mild detergent such as a liquid soap. Efforts have been made to incorporate soap dispensers into scrubbers, with little known commercial success.
A convenient new soap-dispensing scrubber has been developed. The scrubber includes a base with a sponge on one side and a reservoir on the other side. A soap aperture extends through the base. The reservoir is enclosed within an open-ended reservoir wall that rotates about the base between a dispensing position and a closed position. In the closed position, a sealing surface within the reservoir wall closes the soap aperture. Thus, a user can selectively open or close the soap aperture.
The invention can be implemented in a variety of ways. In one embodiment of the invention, the base and the reservoir wall are held together by ridges. For example, a plurality of regularly-spaced ridges may be formed on both the second side of the base and the reservoir wall. Such ridges on the reservoir wall may have upper edges that engage lower edges on the ridges on the base to hold the base to the reservoir wall. Such pieces can be rotated to a removable position where discontinuities in the ridges permit the two pieces to be separated, allowing a user to add more soap to the reservoir.
A projection and a recess can be incorporated into the base and reservoir wall to prevent inadvertent rotation. For example, a radially-outward projection can be provided on the reservoir wall, and arranged to fit into a recess in the base when the reservoir wall is in the closed position. A snug fit between the projection and the recess can serve to effectively lock the reservoir wall and base into the desired position. A second recess can be provided to help hold the pieces together in the dispensing position.
The sealing surface can also be arranged in a variety of ways. For example, if the soap aperture is arranged to extend through a raised segment on the second side of the base, the sealing surface can be arranged as a rigid surface with upper and lower sections that are disposed at different distances from the second side of the base. Both the reservoir wall and the sealing surface may be part of a single, molded piece.